Fallen
by thesunnyhours
Summary: Oneshot. When Temperance Brennan falls asleep at work on a Saturday night, she recieves an unexpected visitor in Booth, and the two finally come to realise what each means to the other...


**Disclaimer:** I only own the contents of my bedroom… (Just to be certain, Bones is not in there, lol)

This is a one-shot story, and I'm quite nervous about submitting it for the world to read, so I hope you enjoy it! I won't hold you up anymore…

At Brennan's desk, her computer was still turned on and was whirring noisily against the silence of the rest of the Jeffersonian Building. Chapter three of her new book was open, and the cursor blinked patiently at the end of her last, unfinished, sentence. Oblivious to this, Brennan was sound asleep, her head resting on her left arm which was draped over the desk, and her right hand loosely clutching a now-cold mug of coffee.

Suddenly, Brennan woke with a start, her head rising sharply off her arm, and the mug she was holding almost accidentally overturned onto her keyboard. For a second, Brennan struggled to work out where she was, and why everywhere was so empty and dark. It all came abruptly back to her when she heard again what had caused her too wake:

A loud, metallic-sounding crash resonated around the empty lab, as though a tray of instruments had been knocked over. '_Somebody's in here!_' Brennan thought, now completely alert and awake, despite the sleepy red marks still visible where she had been resting her head on her arm.

Brennan's instinct to protect herself kicked in immediately. She silently reached down, grabbed the baseball bat she kept hidden under her desk, and tiptoed to her office door, which was hanging wide open, revealing the expanse of darkness that was the Jeffersonian lab at midnight.

Through the darkness, Brennan strained to see where the noises were coming from. She held her baseball bat tighter, showing white knuckles. This was the only outward sign of her fear, although inside, Brennan's heart was beating hard with the adrenaline rush of panic. She heard another noise, accompanied by brusque footsteps and muffled expletives that made it clear an intruder was inside the building.

Brennan held the bat poised, ready for attack, when suddenly the person lurched unsteadily into a strip of grey moonlight just ahead of her door. Instinctively, Brennan raised her bat high, but then she realised who the intruder was:

"Booth?!"

"Hey Bones!" He grinned cheekily at her and ran the last few metres to her, but wobbled dangerously and nearly fell through the office door. Brennan grabbed his arm with her hand and pulled him steady.

"Whoa, Bones, Why is your office moving?" Booth stood with his arms held out as though trying to balance on the deck of a boat in stormy seas.

Brennan signed and chuckled lightly at Booth, as she allowed herself to relax and feel the rush of relief at the fact that the intruder was only her partner, even if he was completely drunk.

Booth noticed the bat still hanging from Brennan's hand. "Are you going to play some baseball?" He slurred. "I love baseball! You got a ball?" He glanced his head around the office, searching.

"No, Booth! It's the middle of the night, and I was on my own! Of course I wasn't going to play baseball"

"Right, that's rational isn't it? You know rational. You do rational. It's what you do best."

He waved his finger at her with this last statement, and moved towards her so much that she had to drop her bat on the floor and grip his upper arms to hold him steady. Brennan was surprised to feel a rush of anxiety for Booth every time he nearly fell. She began to lead him towards her sofa, which he flopped onto heavily, pulling her down with him so they were sat very close.

"I think I drank too much" Booth clutched his head and grimaced.

"Yeah I worked that out."

"Did you just make a joke? But you don't make jokes. You're _Dr. Temperance Brennan._ She doesn't make jokes." He shook his head dramatically.

"I know who I am Booth, you don't need to remind me."

Brennan wasn't entirely sure how to deal with Booth in this state. She wanted to look after him, and felt a bizarre need, that she had never felt with anyone before, to protect him and keep him safe while he was vulnerable. Booth clutched his head again.

"You should be at home in bed Booth." She nodded her head towards his to indicate that she was talking about his headache. "Why did you come here?"

"I don't remember." From Booth's face you could tell he was concentrating hard. "I wanted to see you"

Brennan didn't know what to say to this comment. She tried to shift away from Booth without him noticing. But he grabbed her hand and stood up, swiftly pulling her up with him.

"Let's dance"

"But there's no music, Booth" She pulled slightly away from him, but he had already managed to grab her hand in his, and place an arm around her waist.

"That doesn't matter, just pretend." He flashed his grin again. She couldn't help but smile back.

"I'm not a kid Booth. And you know that even when I was I wasn't very good with anything but facts". Somehow she found Booth's drunken state quite liberating as though she could say things without inhibition that she would normally keep hidden.

Booth just looked at her with wide, brown eyes.

He took a small step back and wobbled unsteadily, falling backwards. Once again, Brennan held onto him, her arm around his back tensed and her fingers gripped tightly around his to hold his weight. She pulled him back upright, close to her, so that their bodies were almost touching.

"I'll look after you Booth, don't worry. I won't let you fall"

Brennan said the words softly, calmly, as though they meant a lot more than what she had originally intended. For a moment, they caught each others gaze, and just looked into each others eyes openly and steadily. Brennan let go of Booth's hand to put her other arm around his back too, holding him close, and Booth did the same, allowing her to rest her head on his shoulder.

"It's too late, I've already fallen," he whispered.

So, what did you think?

This is my first fanfic, so I'd love to hear your opinions about it, so please review, I'd be very grateful for any criticisms, positive or negative.

Should I write any more stories??


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